The older we get the more we realize just how true that sentence is. Thus, memorable moments become, oh so precious!
Our holidays were wonderful! It was fun to spend precious time together, share meals together squished around a nice, big table. Sing some songs together, pray together. Bruce and all the guys took turns praying for our family. It was wonderful and I can't wait to see how God answers that lovely, extended prayer. :) Scary and exciting all at once!
One of my favorite moments was our marshmallow war. Jeremy made everyone marshmallow guns for their stockings. So, on Christmas morning, after we got the hang of it, we had to pelt everyone. It. Was. Fun. It was also fun that throughout the day, a marshmallow would ping you upside the head, out of the blue. Lots of laughter, flying marshmallows (accidentally sucking a couple up instead of blowing them out) and tons of hugs.
(sigh) Now it's time to return to life. Our calender is filling up quickly. So much to do in the next few weeks/months. :)
Bring it on! With a new year, renewed vision and THE God of the heavens on our side...the possibilities are unfathomably endless.
My husband and I are getting a giggle out of this one. He bought all the stuff to make marshmallow guns for everyone, but never got to it. We were just planning on giving them to the kids, maybe we should re-think it for next year :)
So, was it funny 'cuz one does not usually associate the adjective "killer" with my sweet little mama? :) I will post the recipe one I have obtained permission to do so. I don't know if it's a "family secret" or just a recipe to share. I will letcha know.
Tis the time when we all are slowing our steps to take a moment and reflect on our blessings. You know...our blessings :), we all have them. We all can most likely come up with a wonderful list to prove to ourselves and others that we do... have them. :)
Ironic thing about blessings tho is.....usually we have to lose something, go without, experience hardship, trauma, betrayal, grief, sorrow, something that cuts us deeply, hurts deeply, but it helps us to see more clearly that which is truly wonderful and awe-inspiring in our own lives.
For every tear, every smile, every micro second of joy that I see around me and experience myself, I know has been hard earned. :)
Truly, may we all have glorious moments with our loved ones in the coming days, may we cherish every touch, every word, every smile, every sound of laughter, every goofy mistake, every nutsy misunderstanding...family...Thank you God for your wise and loving creation....family...the ones who love us (warts and all) and who (prayerfully) can and sometimes do, walk beside us as we reach for God. :) Family....sometimes blood, sometimes not :) but always in your corner, I Cor. 13 kind of family. :) I have experienced that kind of love and family, it really is out there...God says so. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!! May your celebration this year be meaningful for you and yours. :) :) May God be most gracious in His measure of joy for you this holiday time. Soak it up...and enjoy it.
And....don't put on too many pounds :) Christmas is right around the corner you know. :)
I am so striving to have the quality of family that you have raised. You and yours are one of my top ten families that I am working toward. I know I don't even really know all of your children or even your husband, but I know your values, beliefs, love and heart from the few blessed times I have had to spend with you. I know your reputation and the fact that when you hear someone say, "Do you know the Dehuts?" the response is always, "Yeah! I love them!" I love your spirit, your outlook and your attitude and I want that. Thank you for your example and your willingness to teach and share what you have learned along the way. I pray that I will be blessed in the future with more time to learn from your ways. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for that post! I especially enjoyed the first sentence of your 4th paragraph. I am feeling incredibly blessed beyond measure, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! :^)
I love your thoughts! Thank you for spending so much time talking to me when you came to tampa with Lindsey and Craig...you guys had an everlasting impact on me!
You know everyone keeps saying that we were trying for our boy. In a way that is true cause we would love to have a boy(s) but we would also LOVE to have gril #3! We welcome whomever God has chosen for us - Girl or Boy! I really love having girls and I think Frederic is a great father for girls so he might just get himself another one!! But having a boy would be great too so like I said either way we are happy!
That's how we feel. God knows who would be the perfect addition to our family and he will give us that special baby. When you think of it that way you can't really complain either way he chooses. I would of never chosen a girl to be my first child. I always wanted the strong, older brother to protect the sister but I LOVE having Noelani as my first child. She is such a little mommy to Maleia and she is so excited about this new baby. With both of my girls I was SOOO sick when I was pregnant. I'm already starting to feel sick and I need alot of help while I going through that. I think God knows that and that's why he picked Noelani to be my firstborn cause she is the perfect child for helping me and Maleia out. She LOVES to do that. She's such a blessing to have. Hopefully God will bless us with more than just this new little one and so we'll have more than just the girls and this baby. Can't wait!!!
Ha alot of people tell me that. They do look like girls and they won't have it any other way!!! I had their dresses out of the bags hanging on Frederic's armoire so they could poof up and when Maleia saw them she started to point at them and say "OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh" and clap and jump and Noelani told her "we get to be princesses tonight Maleia!" Then Noelani insisted that Frederic wear his black suit and pink tie so they could all match. Guess who bought him the pink tie to begin with?!?! She loves to pick out his clothes for preaching!
Hey Linda! It's Kiki Dunagan! How've you been? Well...I've been accepted to Western Kentucky University, and now am looking for a roommate. Do you have any suggestions?
Bruce and I got the sweetest gift yesterday. We got a beautiful, hand made blue bowl (thanks Anna ) filled with slips of paper from loving children, who put down one-liner memories for us to read and chuckle about. It is always very much fun to hear the kids regurgitate something from their childhood that has a particular meaning for them. Something they remember as fun, funny, hysterical, sober, heartbreaking, laugh till you cry wonderful :)
I have my own storehouse of wonderful family memories, some even they don't remember because they were too young or weren't even born yet (depending on the circumstance). God is just amazing to have given us the ability to "remember". How wonderful to be able to relive special moments or feelings.
Have you ever read about people who suffered an accident that wiped their memory clean and they basically have to start over. Not only to relearn important functions but, to rebuild their "memory bank". The place that stores everything special that can help us to bond with one another. How very sad.
I am not and have never been a "material" kind of person. But I am a "moment" kind of person. So, the price I would put on special memories, special moments is so high, there isn't anyone alive who could buy mine at auction. No one. No how. So, a memory wipe would certianly be the worse thing I could think of that could happen to me here on this earth.
I am thankful for the many experiences God has allowed me, in my lifetime thus far, to have. And, I look forward to many more :)
May this month, associated with thankfulness, find you making your loooooong list to remind you just how much God has given to you and how precious it all is.
Hope your Lord's day was inspiring and your week profitable for HIM. :)
Well y'all did a fine job with your kiddos! Some friends of mine raised 5 kids and once they were all grown and married, they had to teach themselves how to buy groceries again, such as only 1 gallon of milk at a time, not 4. haha! They were exaggerating of course, but I can imagine what it was like.
Me and my family live in Granbury, TX, a little southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex in north-central TX. Dad and I run a retail business here where we sell outdoor power equipment and trailers. It's a great learning experience starting and running a small business.
Where are you and Bruce living these days? I thought I heard y'all had moved from Indiana.
Oh, wow. I was just in Louisville a couple of weeks ago for the big Green Industry and Equipment EXPO at the big expo center by the airport. Since we sell lawn mowers and other outdoor power equipment, I just had to go to this expo to check out all the latest equipment. Next time I'm up that way, I'll have to track y'all down!
Glad to hear Bruce is still preaching. We need all the evangelists we can get in this day and age. Liberalism is stronger than ever these days, especially after last Tuesday.
Linda, you have a wonderful gift of being able to make people aware of the blessings, especially the simple ones, that so many of us often take for granted, like our memories. I know that i have several GREAT memories of you which I won't emparrass you with on here. :) But I am glad for them nontheless. You are a blessing! Love you!
..."For without Me, you can do nothing." I love knowing that I don't have to have all the answers. I don't even have to do things perfectly (tho I need to always do my best to do what's best in God's eyes :) ) but because God is on my side I can always run to Him for guidance, for comfort, for reassurance, for assistance.
What a freeing feeling to know that, even if I 'trip' in life, with God, I can stand up taller, stronger, more focused on Him.
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Wow. We need to think on that from time to time to help us 'tighten' things up. You know, maybe we've gotten sloppy in how we speak or respond to people. Maybe we have gotten less kind, less understanding, less resolved to honor God in all we do.
I just love how God put the bible together with such balance. Such loving thoughtfulness for us and our weaknesses. Oh to be able to attain such a level of 'holiness' that we could consistently know what to think, do, say to moments in our lives that can shake our faith in God and others.
Thank you God, for your plan, your provision, your purpose. We love you and hope to rise up and live in such a way as to give you the honor and devotion that you deserve.
As we all reflect, like most do from time to time, may we be strong enough, courageous enough, honest enough with ourselves to truly look into 'the mirror' of our soul and be willing to confront what we find there. We don't have to do it alone :) God made provision for that :) for which I am truly, humbly, eternally grateful. Thank you God for 'the peace that passes understanding'...thank you.
Have a great rest of the week and may you look around you and 'see' God's provision for you. See it..and be blessed.
This past weekend, we had the most wonderful opportunity to spend the day with 20+ people, rafting down the Ocoee river in Tennessee.
It was great! We all had a good, safe time (a good percentage had never been before) it is kinda fun to imagine spiritual analogies as you drift along.
For example...to safely manage the rapids, everyone in the raft had to work together. If we lost our focus, we could end up flipped or catapulted out of the raft. We couldn't do it alone (sound familiar :) ) We needed each other. Everyone was important. It was in everyone's best interest to help each other out, and to allow ourselves to be helped out.
Also, those that listened, obeyed and stayed calm (realizing that what was being told by the guide was true) did very well as they sailed along. It seemed that the younger rafts (there was one filled with boy scouts ..13 & 14 yr olds :( )would sometimes not pay close attention and in their greatest moment of stress would just lose it. Trusting your guide, following his instructions, and hearing his assurances ( ours would always say "As long as we paddle together, stay focused and you listen to me... we will do fine" ...and we always did) seemed to really make a difference.
This year we did have several who fell out of their rafts at various points but, no injuries (thank you Lord!).
There is nothing like a fun, safe, encouraging adventure, especially when you are with people you love and trust. It was great to get to meet and get to know others too. :) One can never have too many good people as friends.
(sigh) Well, that was pretty much the last time a bunch of us Dehuts get to be all in the same place for a while until the holidays roll around. Some of us will get to see some of us (that sounds weird )occasionally from now until then. Family...God sure knew what He was doing didn't He?! I love knowing that there is a group of people out there who love me and want what's best for me, especially spiritually. Kinda nice to know they have my back. I love being in a 'spiritual war' with them.
If only we could dress up in some cool looking futuristic (and modest) armor. Now that would make for an awesome photo op wouldn't you say?
I dig the armor idea. Bob went rafting with people from church and enjoyed himself too. I think they were on the Deschutes. Not my cup of tea, I'd rather hike nearby.
i love white water rafting! so cool that you got to do that! and yes, family is one of God's great blessings. i think what is even better is that God modeled the church as a family. some people do not have godly members of their physical family, yet God made it possible to enjoy family benefits as brethren
Everyone is doing great! It's amazing- you think you could never love anyone more than you do your husband, then you have children, and you think you could never love anyone more than your children, then you have a grandchild, and it's a whole new love affair! Of course, it goes without saying that God is loved and adored above all, but it really makes you humbly stand in awe of His love for us, and I still think it's only a small glimpse of the depth of it all! Wow, is God good!
I'm thinking that it would be totally awesome to see you this weekend. Let's do lunch. Or dinner. Or whatever. I'll have my people call your people. :)
